From: "herry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> "Intellectual property" is really just another man-made concoction to
> maximize profits. It really has no meaningful purpose other than to
secure
> one's greed for money. If money were to completely disappear off the
face
> of the earth, there would be no need for "intellectual property." The
term
> would become meaningless.
[etc.]
This is so far OT that I am not going to make additional comments after this
one (which I apologize for in advance).
Intellectual property is what makes it possible for intelligent people to
support themselves by using their intelligence. The desire to earn a living
is *not* just wanton greed. It is, in fact, the moral basis for the concept
of intellectual property. (Through many years of formal education, self
training, and work experience, I have developed the ability to create useful
software programs. I need to eat, pay rent, heat my house, buy medicine,
support my children, etc. Therefore, I sell the software I create in order
to meet these basic human needs. In this context, giving away the results
of my hard work would be immoral because it would deprive me and my family
of the ability to live.)
Whether you like it or not, nearly 100% of the people in this world believe
in, and organize their lives around, the concepts of money, property, etc.
IF we lived on some other planet, THEN perhaps money would be unimportant.
If you actually live your life according to the supposedly moral argument
you have stated, then you are in fact engaging in criminal activity in most
countries of this world.
None of the above should be construed to mean that you are not entitled to
your own opinion. However, you are not entitled to engage in criminal
activity, regardless of whatever you happen to believe.
--
For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see
http://www.palmos.com/dev/tech/support/forums/
